Honeymoon in Netherlands :-)

Honeymoon ? Ummm yes, coincidental let me assure you :-) Hubby had a meeting and some work in Rotterdam and for the first time ever, asked lil old me to come along! Yeahhhh , of course I couldn't say NO, so I said YES BABE! 

Its been 7 years since I was last in Europe and I think 15 since I visited Netherlands, so was really excited. It was a 12 hr flight from KL, took KLM. Not too bad, KLM seats are wider and the crew was very friendly. They also happen to be cheaper than our national airline by RM1.4k :-) ! I was greeted at Schipol International Airport by a Fog! Not so great when you're moving from 32'C to 10'C overnight! That day cleared however to a bright but still nippy day. Here's the view of Rotterdam from my hotel window. 

Netherlands is essentially flat with the west coast going below 8m below sea level, yup a scary thought! So the rule is, if there's a flood, head west or up north to Switzerland! Rotterdam itself is a modern city as most of it was destroyed during WW2. The surrounding countryside however was so beautiful, green pastures with sheeps and cows grazing and lovely little houses.

We visited the Binnenrotte Farmers market that Saturday, and let me tell you, it was a feast for the eyes. Gorgeous fruits and vege's, fresh fish, cheeses by the rounds and the flowers were heavenly. I'll let the pictures do the talking :)

And here's something for you crafters! 

Found a row of stalls selling fabrics from cotton to satin to fleece and even upholstory fabrics and stalls selling notions and trims too. I was hopping up and down, its like being in crafters haven. Couldn't resist getting a few things hehe, but they're not for me :-)

 On Sunday took a 1hr train ride to Amsterdam. Beautiful gothic city with its criss cross of canals and tall tall houses that looked liked doll houses.

Visited the Red Light District, how could I not ! But photo taking is forbidden there, so sorry, no photos but did take some of the surrounding streets , as my Mr J terms it, 'the support services'!

One thing, if you see a 'coffee shop' , this is not your average coffee shop, they'll serve you coffee but laced with marijuana! But laws are strict in that you can only consume it inside the premises only and be of age. If you want normal coffee with a doughnut, go to a 'cafe' :-)

 We stopped at a 'cafe' and had hot chocolate. The best i've had, a block of choc on a stick that you plunged in steaming fresh milk till melted and add a dollop of cream, aaaahhh heaven.

Netherlands is easy to get around as its a worm hole of tram, metro and train lines. The Dutch are people who either walk or cycle, which I think is an excellent way of getting around plus with their excellent public transport, who needs a car ?!

Well, thats it for this post, I'm still recovering from the long 12 hr journey home, contracted food poisioning at Schipol Airport, so you can imagine the horror of the following 12 hours. I kept eyeing the door and calculating my odds of survival if I jumped ship !

But fear not, there will be more stories of Netherlands and its neighbours in the months to come as I will be moving there end of November. Yup, a bit sad of leaving home but excited of new experiences, packing will be a nightmare though. So till next time , au revoir ( ummm thats french !) The Dutch says Tot Ziens! 

Hari Raya 2010

Selamat Hari Raya to all! By now everyone would have been back to the usual hectic daily schedule :-) It was so great that this year's holiday coincided with the school hols so it ended up being 2 weeks of holidays, bliss for me, not having to get all 3 kids ready for school etc. This raya turned out to be a sad occasion however as on the 2nd day while we were in Ipoh at MIL's house, hubby's uncle, Ayah Cik, passed away. It was very sudden of a heart failure. Understandably no one was in the Raya mood for the remainder of the week. He was a gentle soft spoken man and he left very peacefully, May God keep his soul among those that are pious, InsyaALLAH.

I made raya breakfast at home this year with my mom and sisters and aunt attending. Here are the kids all dressed up that morning.

I wanted to deviate from the usual baju kurung this year for Shasha, so I made her this long sleeve pleated dress with matching pants. Still demure but she had fun jumping and running around in it.

And here is the family picture

Me in green with my youngest sister , SIL , 2nd sister and my Mr J. My brother w baby Danish and my parents up front. You may be wondering why we took a family picture in an Esso petrol station ?! Haha thing is I've been having my first day raya ever since I got married at this exact station! My parents are retired and opened this one all the way in Klang. So raya time the whole family needs to pitch in since they're short staffed. But it is pretty festive as all the customers turn up in their raya finery and wish us Selamat hari raya! And of course my kids have a field day choosing whatever drinks and sweets they want!

Here are my 3 stooges getting ready to visit our neighbour's open house. It was a scorching hot afternoon so we decided to keep it simple.

Another one I made for Shasha, 3 qtr peasant sleeve tunic w pants with contrast neck and cuffs.

Here they are with their best friends, Shasha and Arfan, cute huh

So thats it for now, am rushing off now for my Dutch class. Nope that was not a typo error, hehehhe, till later, enjoy the rest of raya friends!

Happy Birthday My Boys :-)

My Adam turned 10 recently whilst Danny was a while back in May. It would have been unfair to just make a party for Adam and not little Danny, so here Ibu went all out to make a party her boys will hopefully remember.

Adam next to his best friend Danish and the brother Didi ( matching outfits, so cute!) My niece Hani and nephew Eiman just refused to budge.

I used Nigella's Buttermilk cake from The Domestic Goddess. Turned out really well. A blue vanilla buttercream frosting for Danny and Choc buttercream for Adam. The tops are ready made icing stickers that you just stick on top of the cake and its edible, what an invention, made my job so much easier! The boys were awed and so were my guests :) You can find them at good baking shops.

Danny with his buddies, Irfan and Amir, they all wanted Spongebob ! They're so cute at this age!

I love making deserts, I can skip the mains and go straight to desert! From top, hotdogs wrapped in puff pastry and sprinkled with sesame seeds ( kids n adults loved them and easy as pie), coconut macaroons, rocky road, peanut butter jam drops and choc macaroons. Made mushroom voul-il-vent, but they were gone as soon as they were out! Managed to pop one before I got them out :) Maybe will post the recipe here.

Aren't these cute? These were all that were left! Made some stars and gingerbread boys too. I used Donna Hays butter biscuit recipe from her Magazine kids party series (still on the shelves). They turned out really buttery but not too crumbly, perfect. Used stiff royal icing to outline the shapes, then thinned it down with lemon juice, gave some color and filled in the gaps.

I'm glad the day went well with friends and neigbours all dropping in, and the kids had fun with their friends. It was worth the hours of baking and cooking I think to see that I made their day. Shasha is already planning for hers in October, 'groannnnn'!

Beyond Gorgeous If I May Say So!

A good friend, Shahrizan, offered me a challenge, a striking, pretty blouse and pants set for her tomboyish 3 year old daughter and 2 cousins. They had to be pretty she said but also versatile enough for active 3 year olds! And, they had to be same but different to avoid cousin squabling! So there I was leafing thru designs then putting batch after batch of materials together to match, quite a headache really.

These are what I finally came out with, and I just love them. It was hard to stop from keeping them for my Shasha, luckily they didn't fit :)

and my absolute favorite!

No 1 pattern from CUCITO Spring 2010 same as here, no 2 & 3 from CUCITO Summer 2010 no 43. The pink is Daisy Dance by Michael Miller teamed with Argyle in Spring by Ann Kelley. The sky blue polka dot is teamed with a Heather Bailey's. Those ruffles are a full 84inches!

And here are the matching capri with of course, ruffles!

My friend loved them and most important, the little miss (also a Shasha) loved all of them and wanted to wear the pink to bed! Yup the mom has decreed the pink to be hers :) A satisfying job well done, pat, pat LOL!!!

And i didn't think the outfit would be complete without hair accesorries, so using a Clover flower yoyo maker, here are 3 pretty hairbands.